Luke Bryan picked up the CMT Music Award for Male Video of the Year for “I Don’t Want This Night to End.”

From backstage at Wednesday’s CMT Music Awards, Luke Bryan sends out a big thank you to his fans for voting for him for Male Video of the Year!

Lady Antebellum kicked off the 2012 CMT Music Awards with a performance of their No. 1 hit, “Own the Night,” along with hit pop group, Hot Chelle Rae and their hit “Tonight, Tonight.”

Eric Church took to the stage located outside of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at Wednesday night’s CMT Music Awards to perform his recent No. 1 hit, “Drink in My Hand.” Fans were singing along to every word and even held up their own drinks to punctuate the chorus! Eric tells us it was the perfect setting for the performance. “We’re certainly in our element to be out there, outside with the fans, live, in the middle of ‘em. It’s what we’re used to, it’s what we do. I think it makes it better for the live show, and it makes it better certainly for us, you know, ‘cause we feel comfortable being able to go out there and give it to ‘em and throw our fist in the air and throw our beer in the air and give ‘em ‘Drink in My Hand’ the way that they get it every night.” 

Eric is poised to hit the top of the country charts with his latest smash, “Springsteen!” 

AUDIO: Eric Church talks about how performing “Drink in My Hand” outside at the CMT Music Awards was the perfect stage. 

Eric Church (CMT Drink) OC: …every night. :58

“It really was born on the road, it was born live. I mean, the inspiration fr the song came from songwriters that were out one night seeing our show and saw the people putting their drinks up in the air. It’s actually quite coordinated for a bunch of drunk people, and that’s where ‘Drink in My Hand’ came from. So, it’s really cool now to see the inspiration for that song and where it came from and how it’s kind of come full circle with what we wrote about that the people were the inspiration. Now we have this song that they can sing back to us every night. Really cool for the CMT Awards, I mean, we’re certainly in our element to be out there, outside with the fans, live, in the middle of ‘em. It’s what we’re used to, it’s what we do. I think it makes it better for the live show, and it makes it better certainly for us, you know, ‘cause we feel comfortable being able to go out there and give it to ‘em and throw our fist in the air and throw our beer in the air and give ‘em ‘Drink in My Hand’ the way that they get it every night.”

Newcomer Jon Pardi and Luke Bryan took part in the inaugural Tug McGraw Celebrity Sporting Clay Shootout at the Nashville Gun Club on Tuesday. Luke did pretty well, but Jon Pardi says he did pretty well, scoring an 84 (when Tim McGraw shot an 88). Jon grew up going hunting with his father, and this week, he used a shotgun he received when he was 12-years-old. “I got mine for free, and I’ve had since I was 12, and it’s a pump, and I was the only one shooting a pump shotgun,” Jon says. “So, I shot pretty good for having a tank as a gun, and it made me feel good to have that old gun…we were at a Ducks Unlimited dinner and I won it on a raffle, and so I kept it ever since. It’s been a good gun.” 

He was so happy to participate that he went to the gun range to practice and told us he now has a place to go when he’s in Nashville (which is rare). “. I was glad I found out something really fun to do in Nashville for like a hobby, is to go out there and shoot, so that was really fun.” 

The Shootout was organized by Tim’s brother Mark, to benefit the Tug McGraw Foundation, which supports medical care for the country’s veterans with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Jon, who is currently making his way up the country charts with his debut single “Missin’ You Crazy,” is on the road until Sunday, when he’s back in Nashville for his first official CMA Music Festival performance at Bridgestone Arena.

AUDIO: Jon Pardi talks about taking part in one of the first events of CMA Music Festival, the inaugural Tug McGraw Celebrity Sporting Clay Shootout at the Nashville Gun Club earlier this week. 

Jon Pardi (Tug McGraw Shootout) OC: …great cause. :16

“Once I found out I was gonna do that, I went out there [to the gun club] and practiced, ‘cause I wanted to know what I was gonna do. I was glad I found out something really fun to do in Nashville for like a hobby, is to go out there and shoot, so that was really fun. It was cool just to be included and it’s for a great cause.” 

Jon Pardi (Tug McGraw Shootout) 2 OC: …good gun. :25

“My gun is not, it’s an old…like all those guys were shooting high-dollar shotguns. I got mine for free, and I’ve had since I was 12, and it’s a pump, and I was the only one shooting a pump shotgun. So, I shot pretty good for having a tank as a gun, and it made me feel good to have that old gun…we were at a Ducks Unlimited dinner and I won it on a raffle, and so I kept it ever since. It’s been a good gun.”

Alan Jackson wanted to send folks a thank you for buying “Thirty Miles West,” the new album in stores today! Check out the youtube link below to hear what he had to say!

Luke Bryan will have a major presence on Wednesday night’s CMT Music Awards. Not only is he performing and presenting, but he’s also up for Male Video of the Year for “I Don’t Want This Night to End.” ““It was fun doing the ‘[I Don’t Want This] Night [to End]’ video and kind of taking a more acting role and a more serious approach…so we’re glad it got recognized,” says Luke. “It’s nice to be nominated in the categories of like Male Artist, and kind of graduating from Breakthrough Artist or New Male. So we’re excited to be in the category.” 

Luke is currently sitting in the Top 5 on the country charts with his latest single, “Drunk on You,” which was just certified for more than one-million downloads. 

The Georgia native is also gearing up to co-host the ABC-TV special, CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock with Kimberly Perry, which is set to air September 17th (8p-11p, ET).

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about being nominated for Male Video of the Year at this year’s CMT Music Awards. 

Luke Bryan (CMT Music Awards) OC: …hopefully win. :24

“It was fun doing the ‘[I Don’t Want This] Night [to End]’ video and kind of taking a more acting role and a more serious approach…so we’re glad it got recognized. You know, we’ll cross our fingers and hopefully we’ll win. It’s nice to be nominated in the categories of like Male Artist, and kind of graduating from Breakthrough Artist or New Male. So we’re excited to be in the category. You know, we’ll keep our fingers crossed, and you always want to hopefully win.”

FROM TASTEOFCOUNTRY.COM:

On Monday night (June 4), Darius Rucker got fans on their feet to kick off an action-packed week of events as part of the 2012 CMA Music Festival. The singer took over Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon for his third-annual Darius and Friends concert, benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In addition to a silent and live auction — which included a Charlie Daniels autographed fiddle that sold for $1,500 and an autographed acoustic guitar from Keith Urban that pulled in $2,000 — fans were able to purchase special VIP packages for a private meet and greet with Rucker prior to the show. Of course, all proceeds raised went directly to St. Jude. Major funding was also garnered for the cause through a private golf tournament held earlier in the day.

“Golf is a pretty easy game [to pick for a charity], when you have a bunch of guys who like to play and have some money and want to spend it,” Rucker told Taste of Country at the event. “You can really put together a nice tournament and raise some money. Then the music, that’s the easy part.”

He added, “It’s really cool when you have all these stars who want to come out and give their time. It always turns out to be a good show and a good time, and in the process, we raise a bunch of money. That’s really what’s important.”

Chuck Wicks‘ involvement in the event marked his second year to golf with Rucker and the other celebrities, but it was his first time taking the stage for the all-star concert.

“With it being Darius ‘and Friends,’ I feel like we’re moving up in the world … I feel like my friendship has grown with him,” Wicks joked with Taste of Country backstage at the Wildhorse. “On top of that, doing this for St. Jude and raising money for the kids is amazing. I’ve been to St. Jude in Memphis, and you see those kids out there and it breaks your heart. What’s crazy is they’re stronger than we are. They’re rockin’, but it’s nice to help them out and help them smile a little longer.”

But what about his golf game? “My team shot 800, which was good enough for fifth place, maybe, which isn’t bad,” Wicks told us with a grin. “Fifth place out of five teams is good … it isn’t bad. It’s bad, I know.”

While Sunny Sweeney didn’t partake in the sporting activities on Monday, she was honored to do her part in helping to raise funds while entertaining the fans who sold out the Saloon. “I made a point to be here because Darius Rucker wanted me to be here,” Sweeney told Taste of Country before taking the stage to perform her songs ‘Drink Myself Single Tonight’ and ‘Amy.’

“I think that’s really cool to even be asked. For it to benefit St. Jude is even cooler. I had a cousin who was at St. Jude for probably two years when she was a little baby,” she revealed. “It cured her or allowed her to live as normal of a life as possible. She has brittle bone disease. I just think that anything with kids is awesome, and when kids need extra help, that’s even better. I love doing stuff like that.”

Others who shared the stage with Rucker for the special night included Clint Black, Rodney Atkins and special surprise guest Jerrod Niemann.

Country superstar Luke Bryan has scored his third consecutive Platinum single with his current Top 5 smash, “Drunk On You,” which has been certified by the RIAA.  The single joins previous Platinum tracks “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and the two-week #1 hit “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” both from his Platinum-certified album, tailgates & tanlines.  Luke is one of only three country artists, including Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift, to have three consecutive Platinum-selling tracks on their current album.  

Luke will perform “Drunk On You” and also appear as a presenter at the 2012 CMT Music Awards, where he is nominated for “Male Video Of The Year” for “I Don’t Want This Night To End.”  The CMT Music Awards air live tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT and CMT.com.  

Bryan is also nominated for Choice Male Country Artist at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, which airs Sunday, July 22 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.  Fans ages 13-19 can vote once each day at www.teenchoiceawards.com. 

This week, Bryan is co-hosting the ABC Television Special “CMA MUSIC FESTIVAL: COUNTRY’S NIGHT TO ROCK,” with Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry, which is set to air on Monday, September 17th from 8-11p (ET/PT).  Luke will also perform at LP Field on Saturday June 9^th, during CMA Music Festival.  

For more information, be sure to visit www.lukebryan.com.  

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about “Drunk on You,” a song from his new album, tailgates & tanlines.

Luke Bryan (Drunk On You) OC: …gonna be fun. [laughs] :46

“’Drunk On You’ was a song that I kind of got it a little bit. The boom boom was throwing me at first, and I feel like that when fans call the radio station they’re gonna go play ‘The Boom Boom Song,’ which is cool, so, I definitely, I think it’s probably the strongest song on the album and probably maybe my biggest song potentially I’ve ever recorded. And it was really in the running, it was really between ‘Drunk On You’ and ‘Country Girl’ for the first single. We’ve just been doing it live every night and it’s fun watching the crowd jump in and sing boom boom with me, and I’m already getting my guitar made up with ‘boom boom’ on the bottom, so that’s gonna be fun. [laughs]”